Taylor Swift and Madonna were the stars of the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards. They took home several awards during the event at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday.
Madonna was the top winner of the night, grabbing seven awards. These included Artist of the Year, Best Collaboration, and Best Album. Taylor Swift won Video of the Year, Best Direction, and the first MTV VMA Artist Director Honours.
Nigeria Misses
Nigerian artists Burna Boy and Tems did not win any awards despite getting nominations in big categories.
Burna Boy was nominated in two categories for his song “Dai Dai,” which features Colombian singer Shakira. The song lost Best Collaboration to Madonna and Sabrina Carpenter’s “Bring Your Love.” Bad Bunny’s “NUEVAYoL” took home Best Latin.
Tems was nominated for Best R&B for “Raindance,” her song with British rapper Dave. Bruno Mars won this award for “I Just Might.”
This means Nigeria had no winners from its nominations at the 2026 VMAs.
Scrapped Afrobeats Category
This news follows MTV's decision to remove the Best Afrobeats category from the 2026 VMAs. This ended the category after only three editions.
The category was created in 2023 as Afrobeats grew in popularity worldwide. Nigerian singer Rema and American singer Selena Gomez won the first award for their hit song “Calm Down.”
South African singer Tyla won the award in the following two years. She took the 2024 prize for “Water” and the 2025 award for “Push 2 Start.”
Tyla’s wins sparked discussions among some Nigerian music fans about whether her music fits into the Afrobeats genre. At the 2024 ceremony, she praised African artists like Wizkid, Burna Boy, and Tems after winning. However, she later said her music roots are in Amapiano while also supporting Afrobeats.
Her second win in 2025 came against a strong group that included Burna Boy, Rema, Tems, Wizkid, and Asake.
The first nominees in the Best Afrobeats category included French star Aya Nakamura and Nigerian artists Asake, Arya Starr, Burna Boy, Davido, and Rema.
MTV has not given a specific reason for dropping the Best Afrobeats category. They also removed other categories.
With this removal, Burna Boy and Tems, who were nominated in the Best Afrobeats category in earlier years, had to compete in other categories this year.
Other Wins and Highlights
Swift won Video of the Year for “The Fate of Ophelia,” adding to her record in this category.
She also won Best Direction for “Opalite” and became the first winner of the Artist Director Honours, a new award for her music-video direction.
During the event, Swift showed the music video for “Patient Zero,” which she directed. She dedicated her Video of the Year win partly to late country music star Dolly Parton.
Madonna, who had the most nominations, kicked off the event with a performance alongside Sabrina Carpenter and Charli XCX. This was her first VMAs performance in 23 years. Her seven awards included Artist of the Year, Best Collaboration with Carpenter for “Bring Your Love,” Best Dance, Best Cinematography, Best Choreography, Best Long Form Video, and Best Album for Confessions II.
BTS also had a great night, winning three awards: Song of the Year, Best K-Pop, and Best Group for “SWIM.”
Other big winners included Sienna Spiro for Best New Artist; LISA won Best Pop for “Dream” featuring Kentaro Sakaguchi; Cardi B featuring Kehlani won Best Hip-Hop for “Safe”; Bruno Mars took Best R&B for “I Just Might”; Olivia Rodrigo won Best Alternative for “the cure”; Bad Bunny won Best Latin for “NUEVAYoL”; and Ella Langley won Best Country for “Choosin’ Texas.”
The night also honored music legends. Kacey Musgraves performed “I Will Always Love You” for Dolly Parton, while RAYE, Sombr, Teddy Swims, and Adam Lambert paid tribute to George Michael.
Nirvana received the Video Vanguard Award.
Hosted by Snoop Dogg, the 2026 VMAs aired live on CBS and on MTV. Streaming was available on Paramount+.
Full List of 2026 MTV VMA Winners
Video of the Year
WINNER: Taylor Swift, “The Fate of Ophelia”
Artist of the Year
WINNER: Madonna
Song of the Year
WINNER: BTS, “SWIM”
Best New Artist
WINNER: Sienna Spiro
Best Collaboration
WINNER: Madonna & Sabrina Carpenter, “Bring Your Love”
Best Pop
WINNER: LISA, “Dream” feat. Kentaro Sakaguchi
Best Hip-Hop
WINNER: Cardi B feat. Kehlani, “Safe”
Best R&B
WINNER: Bruno Mars, “I Just Might”
Best Alternative
WINNER: Olivia Rodrigo, “the cure”
Best Dance
WINNER: Madonna, “Confessions II, The Film”
Best Latin
WINNER: Bad Bunny, “NUEVAYoL”
Best K-Pop
WINNER: BTS, “SWIM”
Best Country
WINNER: Ella Langley, “Choosin’ Texas”
Best Group
WINNER: BTS
Best Long Form Video
WINNER: Madonna, “Confessions II, The Film”
Best Album
WINNER: Madonna, Confessions II
Best Direction
WINNER: Taylor Swift, “Opalite”
Best Art Direction
WINNER: PinkPantheress & Zara Larsson, “Stateside”
Best Cinematography
WINNER: Madonna, “Confessions II, The Film”
Best Editing
WINNER: Sabrina Carpenter, “House Tour”
Best Choreography
WINNER: Madonna, “Confessions II, The Film”
Best Visual Effects
WINNER: Ariana Grande, “hate that i made you love me”
Special Awards
WINNER: Video Vanguard Award, Nirvana
WINNER: MTV VMA Artist Director Honours, Taylor Swift
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